Lectionary Devotions by Bishop Hawkins

We live in a time and place which winks at sexual sins on the false pretense of Christian charity… Someone once suggested that the State has no place in the bedrooms of the nation, and we have come now to presume, that neither does the Church have any business in the bedrooms of her faithful…

The story of Jesus’ temptation is the story of power unexercised. It is hard for us to understand, because we live so much in a day when “just because I can” is justification for any action at all.

People get the warm fuzzies from 1st Corinthians 13, and it remains a most popular passage of Scripture among unbelievers. But I want to suggest to you another way of hearing and reading those beautiful words of Saint Paul.

Our God demands and expects a lot. In the parable of the talents, it is put this way: I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed. That is, God expects an increase.

What does spring mean to you? For many, the first promise of spring comes with the arrival of the seed catalogue, and they are already planning their garden. Today’s Gospel is much like that seed catalogue. It comes with the promise of a spring.

The Gospel tells us what is the cure for our uncleanness: the mercy and power of Jesus Christ, which we are to seek in the prayer of faith. And no matter what kind of outsider we are or feel ourselves to be, our faith can be matched by his grace.

Beware, my friends, and pay close attention and listen very carefully to that parable of our Lord Jesus. The church is full of dawn-to-dusk, dedicated workers like those pictured in the Gospel.

The second coming of Jesus Christ is not meant to fill us with anxiety, but finally with hope. But we must heed all of Jesus’ warnings, and especially that which is given to us today.

God, by his prophet Micah, puts forth his controversy or complaint with his chosen people. You get the sense that they have broken God’s heart. You can hear the pain and disappointment in the divine plea…

Why am I still an Anglican? Why bother? Why stick it out? … Why stay in such a compromised, divided, confused Church? The only real answer I can offer today, for myself and for you, is Matthew 13:30